Statement of purpose

Aims and objectives of the practice:

Promote good oral health to all patients attending our practice for care and advice
Provide high quality dental care, including periodic examinations and treatment, where required
Understand and meet the needs of our patients, involve them in decisions about their care and encourage them to participate fully
Involve other professionals in the care of our patients, where this is in the patient’s interests for example, referral for specialist care and advice
Participate in local initiatives to promote the benefits of general and oral health to the wider population
Ensure that all members of our team have the right skills and training to carry out their duties competently and with confidence
Ensure an awareness of current national guidelines affecting the way we care for our patients

The surgery undertakes general dental services which includes:

The diagnosis and treatment of dental disease including caries and periodontal disease
Treatment of oral trauma
Providing dental restorations
Dental extractions
Radiographs (taking and diagnosing)
Soft tissue screening
Emergency on call cover
Some orthodontic treatment and referral

Erik Lof (registered manager and responsible individual) (BDS Tandlakare, Gothenburg 1996)

Mr Lof has been working as a qualified general dental practitioner since January 1997 first as an associate, and from January 2001 he has run and managed the day-to-day business of a busy dental surgery and all that it entails.

Mr Lof has also regularly attended training courses, seminars and events to increase his knowledge base on health and safety, infection control, quality assurance and other aspects of practice management. Keeping up to date with all the numerous rules, regulations and legislation which governs the running of a dental surgery, especially in relation to health and safety.

In addition, he is aware of the duties and expected patient service and has established and continually monitors the practice’s complaints and feedback mechanisms.

Erik currently carries out and is responsible for the following duties:

oversee the overall functions and take responsibility for the daily operations of the practice, by ensuring that the work is carried out according to agreed systems and policies as determined by the providers
responsible for the recruitment, training and development of existing and new employees, including monitoring and evaluating staffing levels to meet existing and future needs
ensure the surgeries and offices are in good working order and ensure that the equipment is in good working condition and to report any needs and/or requirements to the providers
ensure excellent quality of service for patients
build and lead an effective team, develop motivation, commitment and sound working relations and morale within the practice staff
supervise the staff on a day-to-day basis and ensure they are formally appraised at least annually
be responsible for implementing disciplinary procedures as required.
have overall responsibility for the implementation and monitoring of all health and safety policies, including all safe systems of work
ensure that all possible steps are taken to prevent accidents and to minimise any potential hazards
facilitate the cascading of health and safety information and issues to all staff and to ensure that this has been understood fully and ensure that all of the practice’s policies and procedures are effectively implemented and monitored and to be responsible for them
have overall responsibility for the delivery of quality services to all patients
have overall responsibility for investigating and documenting all untoward events, e.g., any complaints or grievances which patients might have
investigate any accidents and incidents which may occur
receive and evaluate patient feedback and make process changes to the running of the practice if appropriate
oversee the financial processes and completion of relevant documents, e.g., invoices, supervision and staff training records

Staff Details

Erik Lof Principal Dentist (BDS Tandlakare Gothenburg 1996)
Joanna Legowska Dentist (BDS Lek Stom Wroclaw 2001)
Emma Dyer Dental Therapist/Hygienist (Diploma in Dental Hygiene and Therapy 2021)
Helen Dickson Hygienist (Certificate of Proficiency in Dental Hygiene 1988)
Sharon Davies Practice Manager/DCP (National Certificate NEBDN 1997)
Karen Thomas Lead Dental Nurse (National Certificate NEBDN 2001)
Charlotte Carlisle Dental Nurse (Diploma in Dental Nursing Level 3 QCF City & Guilds 2019)
Hayley Turley Dental Nurse (National Diploma in Dental Nursing NEBDN 2017)
Kirsty Farr Dental Nurse (Diploma in Dental Nursing Level 3 QCF City & Guilds 2018)
Ebony Jones Trainee Dental Nurse
Tara Liversidge Trainee Dental Nurse
Julie Uzzell Receptionist NVQ Level 3 in Business & Customer Service
Alia Kosik Decontamination Assistant

Organisational Structure

Erik & Jessica Lof (Company Directors)

Dentists

Erik Lof

Joanna Legowska

Hygienists

Helen Dickson

Therapist/Hygienist

Emma Dyer

Practice Manager

Sharon Davies

Receptionist

Julie Uzzell

Dental Nurses/Trainees/Decontamination Assistant

Karen Thomas

Sharon Davies

Charlotte Carlisle

Hayley Turley

Kirsty Farr

Tara Liversidge

Ebony Jones

Alia Kosik

Services, treatments and facilities

We provide general dental services to the local population. This includes the diagnosis and treatment of dental disease including caries and periodontal disease.

We also take radiographs as an aid to diagnosing the patient’s oral condition

and undertake dental extractions where necessary. We are available to treat oral trauma and can follow it up by providing dental restorations. Relating to this, we are operating our own on call service covering all patients of the practice during non-opening hours. In relation to the area of wider health, we also undertake soft tissue screening for the early detections of oral cancers.

Patients Views

We run an in-house survey regularly to find out what patients:

like about the practice
what they feel could be improved
what it is really like to receive dental care at the practice

It helps us to understand better what our patients expect from us and can

generate ideas on how services can be redesigned to meet patients’ needs

more closely, for example, are patients interested in treatments we do not

currently provide.

Our questionnaires are designed to be as short and as simple as possible and

we avoid jargon. Sometimes, we use tick boxes, which makes it easier for patients to respond and simplifies our analysis system.

After these consultations, we let the patients know what we have found out

and what we intend to do as a result. We put this feedback - and our associated actions - on notices at the practice and our website. We feel that this demonstrates our commitment to keeping them informed and involved in the practice.

Opening Hours

The opening hours of the practice are as follows:

Monday 8.00AM – 6.00PM

Tuesday 8.00AM – 6.00PM

Wednesday 8.00AM – 6.00PM

Thursday 8.00AM – 6.00PM

Friday 8.30AM – 1.00PM

The practice closes between 1pm and 1.45pm for lunch Monday to Thursday.

During out of hours, we operate an in house on call service. Details of this are

on our answer machine message, website and front door.

Arrangements For Dealing with Complaints

Policies in place:

Complaints handling policy
Code of practice for patient complaints

In this practice we take complaints very seriously and try to ensure that all our

patients are pleased with their experience of our service. When patients

complain, they are dealt with courteously and promptly so that the matter is

resolved as quickly as possible. This procedure is based on these objectives.

Our aim is to react to complaints in the way in which we would want our

complaint about a service to be handled. We learn from every mistake that we

make, and we respond to patients’ concerns in a caring and sensitive way.

The person responsible for dealing with any complaint about the service that

we provide is Sharon Davies our Complaints Manager, or Erik Lof if Sharon is

unavailable.

If a patient complains by telephone or in person, we will listen to their

complaint and offer to refer them to the Complaints Manager immediately. If

the Complaints Manager is not available at the time, we will advise the patient

when they will be able to talk to the Complaints Manager and make arrangements for this to happen. The member of staff will take brief details of the complaint to pass to the Complaints Manager and provide the patient with a copy. If we cannot arrange this within a reasonable period or if the patient does not wish to wait to discuss the matter, arrangements will be made for someone else to deal with it.

If a patient complains in writing or by e-mail, it will be passed immediately to

the Complaints Manager. If a complaint is about any aspect of clinical care or associated charges, it will usually be referred to the dentist concerned, unless the patient does not want this to happen.

We will acknowledge the patient’s complaint in writing and enclose a copy of

this code of practice as soon as possible, normally within two working days.

We will offer to discuss the complaint at a time agreed with the patient and

confirm how the patient would like to be kept informed of developments – by

telephone, letters or e-mail or by face-to-face meetings. We will inform the

patient about how the complaint will be handled and the likely time that the

investigation will take to complete. If the patient does not wish to discuss the

complaint further, we will still inform them of the expected timescale for

completing the investigation.

We will seek to investigate the complaint within four weeks and, as far as

reasonably practicable, we will keep the patient informed as to the progress of

the investigation.

When we have completed our investigation, we will provide the patient with a

full written report, which will include an explanation of how we considered the

complaint, the conclusions reached in respect of each specific part of the

complaint, details of any necessary remedial action taken and whether further

action will be taken.

Proper and comprehensive records will be kept of any complaints received

and the action we take. These records will be reviewed regularly to ensure

that we take every opportunity to improve our service.

If patients are not satisfied with the result of our procedure, then a complaint

may be referred to:

General Dental Council, 37 Wimpole Street, London, W1M 8DQ.

Tel : 020 7887 3800 or www.gdc-uk.org

Health Inspectorate Wales, Welsh Government, Rhydycar Business Park,

Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 1UZ. Tel : 0300 062 8163 or www.hiw.org.uk

Dental Complaints Service, Stephenson House, 2 Cherry Orchard Road,

Croydon CR0 6BA. Tel: 08456 120 540

Equality, diversity and dignity

Our vision is for Deganwy Dental Practice to be a successful, caring, and

welcoming place for patients to receive dental care and advice. We want to

create a supportive and inclusive environment where our staff can reach their

full potential and care is provided in partnership with patients, without prejudice or discrimination. We are committed to a culture where respect and understanding is fostered, and the diversity of people’s backgrounds and circumstances will be positively valued. This policy will help us to achieve this vision.

Legal responsibilities:

The rights of our patients and our staff with regards to discrimination are

protected by anti-discrimination legislation including:

The Equality Act 2010
Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000
Employment Rights Act 1996

By adopting this policy, we accept our responsibility to ensure that discrimination does not take place and that everyone is treated fairly and equally.

The aim of this policy is to achieve equality of care experience by removing

any potential discrimination in the way that people are cared for and treated

by the Practice, including:

people with disabilities
people of different sexual orientations
transgendered and transsexual people
people of different races
people on the grounds of their sex
people of faith and of no faith
people in relation to their age
people in relation to their social class or medical condition
people who work part-time
people who are married or in a civil partnership
women who are pregnant, have recently given birth or are breastfeeding

We aim to develop and support equality and diversity measures by:

providing patient information in a variety of languages, if required

having translation services available for patients who need this
providing services that are accessible to patients with disabilities
ensuring that care of individuals is planned with their specific needs at the practice
tackling oral health inequalities through positive promotion and care
involving patient groups and individuals in the design of our service
responding positively to the diverse needs and experiences of our patients and the community even when those needs are challenging to deal with
ensuring that we join up with services involved with the care of patients with particular medical and social care needs

Please refer to our GDPR page on the website

Date Statement of Purpose written - 20/02/2025

Author - Mr Erik Lof